The Dawn of Fire
by AaronTheRedRider22
Summary: 600 years ago the Elder Council waged a 400 year war against the Daedra Lords and have purged the false gods from the land. Now during the 4E, at the turn of the century a new day dawns and it has dawned in fire. Dragons roam the skies once more, an Empire remains divided, and a darkness roams in Tamriel. A hero must choose, an heir must rise, and war must be won...but against who?


**Elder Scrolls: The Dawn of Fire**

_Bump…_

_Creak…_

_Clank…_

Such annoying sounds whispered in the distance but soon the distance grow shorter and shorter, and the sounds grew louder and louder. He struggled to drown out the sounds by speaking to himself.

'Go away…go away…let me sleep a while longer' the sounds of the outside world ignored the man and continued to grow louder in sound. However, a new motion took over and the man began to forget about the sounds and began to focus on the motion of his body. Something outside was moving his body, making him rock side to side, bounce on his hard seat, and made him feel very sick.

The man began to beg once more for the world to leave him and to let him sleep and only one answer came, and that answer was a horse whining, wooden wheels rolling across mud, and a sick feel growing in the pit of his stomach.

The man had last his battle with the outside world and finally made up his mind to open his eyes and face whatever was set before. The sight before him startled him however.

For some reason he thought his first sight would either be the sun or a cloud, instead of seeing a sun the man so iron bars. It slowly came to him and then he reliesed that he was a in a cage.

'I am a prisoner' he told himself as he leaned his forward and looked across the moving wagon and looked directly into the eyes of a large man with long golden hair, and a dark blond beard that covered his entire face. A sentence suddenly came from the giant's mouth "Are you okay" while bile and blood came out of the man's.

"I guess your not. What's your name?" the giant asked as the cage rolled over a giant rock and then rattle as it crashed back down on to the road.

"My-my name" the worlds stumbled out of his mouth as he raised his head and looked up at his fellow prisoner.

"What did you forget your name?" the impatience glimmer in the giants eyes as he looked down at the hunched over man.

'My name…what is my name?' the question was not spoken allowed but was asked in silence.

"I-I can't remember" his voice felt dry and frail, as if he had not had water in days, but for all he knew could be true as he slowly began to relies that he knew nothing. Not his name, not his age, his appearance, or his past. The man knew nothing.

"I can't remember anything" he whispered.

"What did you say" the third voice in the wagon startled the man as he quickly looked to his left and saw a pale skin man sitting beside the giant, unlike the giant his hair was gray and his skin was dark as the tree leaves blowing in the wind.

"He said he doesn't remember anything" the giant said as he began to stare long and hard at the man before him.

"Well its obvious your not from around here. Skins to dark, hairs to pale and you're shivering like a new born babe. You most be a southerner" the giant explained as the man raised his hands, tethered in rope, and began to look at his skin.

The giant spoke the truth, his skin was tan and was covered in small cuts and purple and blue bruises, and his hands were hard and callused like old leather.

"What do you mean by that? Where am I?" the man felt sick again but he kept his sickness down as he awaited his answer.

"You in Skyrim, can't you tell from the cold?" the giant began to chuckle and laugh.

"Where" he felt sick again as the wagon began to roll up a hill. "Where is that" the man had no idea where in the world Skyrim was, or what it looked like.

"Those bloody Stormcloaks knocked your pretty hard if you don't know where Skyrim is" the browned skin man said as he wrapped his arms around his naked chest, hoping to keep the warmth close to him.

The wagon went forward as it began to roll down hill and finally the man let his mouth loose and let forth more bile and sickness from his stomach.

"Would you stop that? Or you are just going to make the rest of us sick!" the giant yelled as he edged his bare feet away from the bloody brown goo.

"Be quiet back there! No more talking!" the driver of the wagon yelled as he banged his fist against the iron cage.

"If I hear one more word from any of you I swear by the Eight I will cut out your tongues" a fierce woman roared as he horse trotted along side the wagon. Silence and fear fell upon the wagon as the woman continued to move forward on her horse.

The urge to speak left the wagon and the man felt a sense of peace but only for a brief moment as a small settlement, with large walls, appeared over the next hill. Thin clouds of smoke could be seen from the road.

Smoke meant fire and fire meant warmth and that was enough to put a smile on the man's face, but as the wagon drover closer and closer to the wall fear began to surround the wagon as more armed soldiers, in blue tunics and steel armor began to march around the wagon as it entered the city.

"Why are we hear?" the man asked as small crowd began to appear on the road, men and women of all ages glared at the wagon as it rolled past them.

The man suddenly felt the urge to look back down the road and for the first time, since he awake, noticed more iron wagons filled with wounded men and women.

"Your hear because you broke the law scum!" the drive said as stirred the horse to take a road to right and drive it up towards a small castle set on top of a hill.

"What law?" a cool breeze suddenly washed over the man as he looked to the driver, staring at the back of his steel helmet, wondering what kind of man was beneath it.

"Murder, rape, pillaging, thievery, and false worship" the man had thought it was the rider who had spoken but it was actually the dark skin man who spoke.

The older man's dark skin obviously made him different from the rest but his tone and his cold hard glare was what truly divided him from the others.

The sick man knew that the giant was different from the common thief that sat beside him, and he began to wonder if he truly wished to know who he was.

"What are we?" however the sick man sense of curiosity was far too strong to ignore. The giant's grew as cold as the fallen snow and his neck began to bulge and tense from anger or pain.

"He won't tell you. When a Forsworn is captured hey immediately take a vow to never speak of there cause, there Forsworn King, or there secrets" the dark skin man was slowly getting under the giants skin and he was enjoying it.

The sick man began to feel ill once more but from his stomach or the motion from the wagon, the man's sense of ill came from the giants bouncing foot and twitching eye.

The dark skin man slowly leaned closer to the man with the upset stomach and began to whisper into his ear.

"You and me boy" his tone was chilled and dark.

'Boy?' the ill man thought to himself. 'Am I child he wondered' but he could not ask that allowed and continued to listen to the man before him.

"You and I are different from the rest. We don't belong with this lot. There rebels and we" the right finger first pointed to himself and than gestured towards the ill boy before him.

"Were innocent of rebellion but not from thievery. Just tell the guards you helped me steal a horse and they will let you off with a slap on the wrist" the wagon began to sing as random items began to bounce off the iron cage.

A chorus soon began as the villagers of the unknown village began to sing "Boo" and "Kill" chaos swarmed the long row of cages and the boy could feel fear growing stronger within him.

He wanted an escape.

The boy wanted to freedom.

The boy wanted…

Suddenly there was a chime in the wind and the world grew silent.

Fear vanished and relief quickly followed as the ill boy began to listen to the soft chimes flowing with the wind. The world was unable to hear it or enjoy it but the boy was. He desperately began to search the crowd of men and women, boys and girls, and search for the source of the sound.

But there was too much. Too much food was being thrown, to many were screaming and yelling, and the pain in the boy's stomach was growing stronger.

"What is happening" the boy whimpered as he clutched his gut, desperate for the pain to leave him.

'Look up!' a voice appeared in the boys head and on command he raised his head and looked out into the crowd and saw someone wearing a hood and cloak.

'Higher' the voice spoke once more and the lad raised his head further and looked into the gray sky and at the edge of the sun. The light was blinding and without a hand to block the fiery orb, the lad struggled to search the skies.

'I see nothing' he told the voice but no response came.

He searched and searched…until something caught his eye.

It was only a glimpse, a dark glimpse, but the boy knew he saw something flying over head.

"What was that?" he question was voice aloud and only the voice within his head spoke.

'You will learn soon enough. Prepare yourself young one' the boy quickly looked down from the sky and back into the crowd to search for the cloaked figure once, but the wagon had moved forward and the mysterious figure was gone along with the silence.

"What in Oblivion are you looking at boy?" the giant asked as he watched the young man turn around in his seat and take his place before his comrades in chains.

"Nothing" the boy mumbled.

The sickness became steady in the lads stomach and for a few minutes the boy found peace, but when the wagon stopped and as he rose his head the boy felt sick once more.

Beyond the iron bars were more soldiers and men, each assembled below the tallest tower in the castle.

In each stood rows of ten and the boy lost count of how many rows there were as his attention fell upon the executioner standing on top of a platform, where six noose were being tighten and refitted for four men and two women.

The wagons were guided over to the wall that surrounded the tower and once by one the iron cages were opened and the prisoners inside were lead out.

"Remember boy, stick with me and we will **live**" the dark skin man whispers almost reassured the boy, but as the ill youth watched the man being dragged out of the mobile prison he began to wonder what crime he had committed.

'What have I done to deserve imprisonment?' the boy asked himself as a woman pulled on his chains and dragged him out the wagon. There were eight wagons in total and each held more then eight or ten 'But why were there only three in this one?' the boy wondered as he gazed over his shoulder and at his former prison.

The wagon was smaller but other than its size it looked no different from the others.

"Next!" a thick rattling voice shouted. The boy gazed down the eight rows of prisoners and found the source of the strange sound, and to the lad's horror stood a lizard. A red scaled lizard, with curved horns, sharp claws, and piercing green eyes.

The boy was hypnotized by the creature as he watched him walk down a column of prisoners and began to sentence each of them to death or imprisonment, but it would appear more were being sentence death.

The creature was drawing closer and the boy was able to get a better look not only at his face but at his garments, the giant lizard was wearing what appeared to be a unique set of armor. It was a dark silver, that glimmered in the passing sun, and it was fashioned with black leather and bright silver buckles.

The boy could also see that the lizards boots were specially fitted for his longs curved toenails, that appeared more like claws, and finally the youth took note of the curved sheath hanging on the lizards left side and the two golden daggers on his right.

"Whose this one?" the lizard asked as he approached the third row of men.

"These are the remaining Forsworn we ambushed" a dark skin woman said as he held a large book in right hand and a quill in her left. The dark skin woman was wearing a bright green robe with a matching hood and she was always writing something down in her big red book.

"They are not like the rest General" the red eye woman closed her big red book and held down by her side.

"These are seasoned men and they will not talk" the lizard began to walk down the line of men and women studying each man and women, looking for any signs of weakness, but the red scale creature could see none.

The youth could feel the pit in his stomach grow larger as the lizard approached him and the dark skin man.

"What of these three?" the lizard asked as he jabbed his finger into the giant blondes chest and gesture at the boy and the dark skin man.

"According to the report this man is Reek, the **former** of this traveling pack" the black skin woman pointed her quill at the giant blond hair man and then she fixed her gaze on the brown skin man.

"This one is from Hammerfell. I don't know his name but the Captain Ballron assures me he is a member of the Thieves Guild" a spark of intreset appeared in the lizards eye as he approached the man from Hammerfell.

"A member of the Thieves Guild…my-my-my" the lizards eye studied the man, eyes running up and down his body.

"I'm afraid you have the wrong man milord. I will not deny that I am a thief but I steal horses. I am unskilled and unworthy of serving in a guild" the man from Hammerfell smiled at the lizard as he held up his hands as if to show the red scale beast he was holding a book but nothing was there.

"You do appear unskilled and slow" the lizard had begun to circle the three men.

"Yes sir, I am nothing you can ask my partner here" the brown skin man gestured to the boy.

"This one helped me steal the horse" the boy felt the urge to pour out his pile again when the lizards sharp eyes fell upon him.

"This one?" his long nail was aimed at the boy's heart.

"Yes your grace. Go on boy tell him what you did and how you helped me" a twinge of fear appeared in the man's voice.

"He is telling a lye General Hendal. That boy was found crossing the border and was caught up in the ambush. The Stormcloaks assure me that boy is dangerous" the black skin woman snapped like a thunderclap and her voice was as quick as the bolt of lightning.

"I see…so not only are you a thief but a liar as well" the man from Hammerfell could feel a chill run up as his spin when heard the lizard speak.

"Ye-yes but that's not a crime is it your grace?" the man stuttered.

"No I guess not but if you are a liar then that means you were lying about the horse and lying about not being a member of the Thieves Guild" an evil smile appeared on the lizards face, his yellow stained fangs flashed as his grin grew.

"No!" the brown skin man yelled.

"Hang him like the rest and take the Nord into the hold I want him questioned" the lizard ordered as a five very large men appeared by the giant and the man from Hammerfell.

"No don't do this! Please don't do this! I'm innocent! Innocent!" the brown skin man screamed and kicked as he was dragged to the platform of hung men.

"Gag him as well" the lizard ordered as the last of the Forsworn were taken to away to be hung, and all that remained was the sick boy.

"Tell me your name" the lizard whispered as he placed a hand on the youth's shoulder.

"I have no name your grace…or any memory" the lad fought the urge to spill his stomach as he spoke.

"I see…Lady Varren. What crimes did this boy commit?" the lizard asked as he stepped away from the boy.

"The men assure me that they saw this boy kill three of our own…and four of the Forsworn. So that makes him neither friend nor enemy" Lady Varren said as she stood by her Generals side.

"And by our laws murder or a guard is punishable by death. Hang him as well and be quick about it" the red scaled beast commanded as two more soldiers appeared and guided the youth to the gallows.

The sickness had finally passed as a rope was draped across the boy's shoulders, just like so many men and women before him, and while the boy and four others accepted their fate the brown skin continued to scream and yell through the cloth tied around his mouth.

"Do all Redguards whine like you?" a tall woman with charcoal hair asked as she bowed her head and prepared herself for her death, as did the others, but the body did not bow his head. He looked up and across the massive yard and at the gate where hundreds of villagers had gathered to scream hated words, but then a new sight came into view for the boy.

A woman in orange robes and a yellow hood stepped in front of the gallows. Her long chestnut hair drabbed around her neck and across her chest and she held up a bronze lantern that burned with incense and a necklace that the boy could not see.

"Praise be to the Eight, the Divines above" the priest began to chant in a soothing tone that was meant to bring peace to the condemned but furry shined in the eyes of the Forsworn as the priestess spoke.

"We your humble servants call upon the God Arkay and humbly beg that he cast his gaze upon the damn" the chant continued but the rants of the village grew louder and louder.

"Get on with it!" they cried and cheered beyond the inner wall.

"Do they hate us so?" the boy mumbled as he looked back the priestess, who had continued her chant.

"Judge them Lord Arkay, judge them for there crimes and there foul deeds" the chant continued as the boy suddenly felt the urge to look to his left and at the man wearing the black hood.

"and forgive them for what they have done" with a deep breath the boy close his eyes and open them once more and looked into the sky wondering what awaited him after death.

"Or punish them for what they are" the lever was pulled and fire rained down from the sky.


End file.
